***2021-2022 NBA Season Thread***

[Mr. Sinister]

So is it still a curse when you are simply getting your ass beat?

I feel like we need an appropriate acceptable Curse scale.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Because I'm old and remember things, I also understand that this "Lebron can't score when guarded by Iggy" routine is a repeat of an old, old story called "Larry Bird can't score when Michael Cooper guards him."

[Chew]

I feel like we need an appropriate acceptable Curse scale.

 

**soothsayer voice**  "A few more Finals losses and the prophesy will be fulfilled!"

 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

LeBron' has no jumper.

[Chew]

LeBron' has no jumper.

 

At least he can jump...

[Mr. Sinister]

I do wonder what happened to his shot. His jumper is what drained the plasma from the Spurs in Game 7.

Most likely that he simply felt like he didn't have to work on it as much. Heat coaches certainly were not afraid to heavily critique him.

I just get the feeling that in Cleveland everyone just walks around on eggshells.

He is reverting back to the old Lebron who has no help and couldn't hit a shot away from five feet if he had a targeting lock.

I feel like justice is being served adequately. I just wish we got a shot at him. I wanted it so bad.

[PeterMP]

The Lebron jump shot situation is very odd, especially it is clearly appearant the NBA is going to become more and more of a jump shooting league.

 

The league has no interest in cleaning up or disallowing the contact around the rim further, and he has to know as he gets older and he slows down the jump shot is going to be even more important.

 

And Lue is doing a horrible job.

 

If he gets fired after this year, how many coaches will that make it for Lebron?

 

I'm actually pretty pro-Lebron (Lebron is a great player), but that's going to he his legacy.

[TheGoodBits]

I hope that Lebron plays the remainder of his career in Cleveland, never wins a title there, and that fanbase never forgives him for spending his best years in Miami.

[Predicto]

Is it me, or did the hit that took out Love seem rather innocuous? He got taken out by that?

 

 

Head trauma is hard to evaluate from film.  You never know what is going to scramble your egg up bad.  

[Bozo the kKklown]

I do wonder what happened to his shot. His jumper is what drained the plasma from the Spurs in Game 7.

a bit of revisionism tho.

The Spurs dared him to take jumpers and he did not start hitting them until the 4th quarter of game 6.

The only year his jumper was good was his last year in Miami.

I hope that Lebron plays the remainder of his career in Cleveland, never wins a title there, and that fanbase never forgives him for spending his best years in Miami.

he has 2 rings, they would have zero. Lebron won.

[Mr. Sinister]

a bit of revisionism tho.

The Spurs dared him to take jumpers and he did not start hitting them until the 4th quarter of game 6.

The only year his jumper was good was his last year in Miami.

It was better than it is right now was my point. By no means was he automatic, but he looks like he did at 22-23 right now

[Going Commando]

can you explain how they will force a game 6 other than the cliche'd comment you made?

they dont play defense.

I expect the Warriors role players to regress, but Curry and Thompson will do more.

Also, defense travels and its not like the Warriors are beating up the Cavs physically.

The Cavs are a completely different team at home. A team that actually plays tough. I also don't expect much out of the Warriors role players on the road, other than Iggy. Draymond Green used up all his makes for the series last game. LeBron is also a beast in the playoffs and we're due for a couple of monster 40 point games from him. Kyrie Irving is due for a big game where he drops 30+, and JR Smith is also due for a game where he makes like seven threes.

Bottom line, no team with LeBron on it is just going to roll over like a dog at home. And the Warriors have also displayed some real shakiness on the road in the previous two rounds. I think Cleveland wins the next two.

[Going Commando]

Jesus guys, it's LeBron. This is not LeBron's first Finals and the Cavs are not the Rockets. The man can absolutely take over and revert to being the best player in the world again for a few games. He will be doing this for years to come.

And you all make fun of me for being knee jerk.

[Bozo the kKklown]

The Cavs are a completely different team at home. A team that actually plays tough. I also don't expect much out of the Warriors role players on the road, other than Iggy. Draymond Green used up all his makes for the series last game. LeBron is also a beast in the playoffs and we're due for a couple of monster 40 point games from him. Kyrie Irving is due for a big game where he drops 30+, and JR Smith is also due for a game where he makes like seven threes.

Bottom line, no team with LeBron on it is just going to roll over like a dog at home. And the Warriors have also displayed some real shakiness on the road in the previous two rounds. I think Cleveland wins the next two.

so, wishful thinking?

Curry and Thompson have not been great this series. (well Curry was last night but only played 24 minutes)

The role players will regress but Curry and Thompson can still get better.

But like I said before, defense travels. That always happens. If you can defend, you can win anywhere.

Im not saying the Cavs will get swept, but you have not made a case for why they wont other than "its Lebron."

While ignoring that Lebron is 32 and this team does not match up well at all with the Warriors. And the Warriors are an All Time Great team.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Head trauma is hard to evaluate from film.  You never know what is going to scramble your egg up bad.  

 

The slow mo looked pretty brutal - a flying elbow to the base of the skull.

 

The problem with NBA injuries is the relative size of these guys. Kevin Love would be the biggest human being you ever met in your life. And he looks Tiny next to someone like Mozgov.

 

If Kevin Love walked into a room with Harrison Barnes, Barnes would be the second biggest person you ever met in your life. Love would still be the first.

 

That was a flying bionic elbow from a 6'8" freak athlete.

 

That would have killed you.

Edited June 6, 2016 by Lombardi's_kid_brother

[PeterMP]

You know, it's fascinating to hear that Kevin Love is a terrible defender year after year and realize that most of what the "experts are seeing" is a series of small stuff that you don't recognize if you are casually watching.

 

And then the Warriors target him on a thousand straight pick and rolls and he makes the wrong play every single time. The Cavs are setting the Finals record for "Finger points following a defensive breakdown."

 

I'm not sure there is anything he can do right on those plays, especially without a real rim protector behind him or a real help defender on the floor.

 

It wouldn't matter how he played them, it would end up looking like the wrong decision.

Edited June 6, 2016 by PeterMP

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Jesus guys, it's LeBron. This is not LeBron's first Finals and the Cavs are not the Rockets. The man can absolutely take over and revert to being the best player in the world again for a few games. He will be doing this for years to come.

And you all make fun of me for being knee jerk.

 

I think GSW wraps this up in 5. I can see Cleveland winning one really ugly game where the refs let them just mug the **** out of GSW. And then another game where the refs loosen up and the Warriors when by 8 or 10.

 

I imagine the closing game at Oracle will be a 20 point game where a naked Predicto runs onto the court and hugs Steve Kerr.

I'm not sure there is anything he can do right on those plays, especially without a real rim protector behind him or a real help defender on the floor.

 

It wouldn't matter how he played them, it would end up looking like the wrong decision.

 

That's a fair point.

 

But he's not really offering any resistance at all.

 

Irving is pretty brutal on those switches too.

 

Cleveland's team is built like a football team; half their team is defensive guys and half their team is offensive guys. (Lebron is both of course). Their choices seem to be offer some defensive resistance and score 80 or forget about defense and give up 130.

[Renegade7]

Jesus guys, it's LeBron. This is not LeBron's first Finals and the Cavs are not the Rockets. The man can absolutely take over and revert to being the best player in the world again for a few games. He will be doing this for years to come.

And you all make fun of me for being knee jerk.

Two things:

1. That didn't save them last year

2. I'm annoyed we're even having this conversation about "when is he going to turn it on". It's June for crying out loud.

[Chew]

4 of 23 from 3-point yesterday for Cavs.  17%.  Ouch.

[Going Commando]

Im not saying the Cavs will get swept, but you have not made a case for why they wont other than "its Lebron."

If you've been following the Cavs this season, you know about their Jekyl and Hyde home/away split. They are a much better team at home--an elite team. They're 40-8 at home while just 29-21 on the road.

They're not going to shoot like **** the whole series. This is a great shooting team, they had the 4th best offensive in the league this season. They were also tenth in defensive rating.

And also the Warriors have not played like the greatest team ever in the postseason. They beat up on the corpse of the Rockets, but they got pushed in every game by a Blazers team that had no business hanging around with them. And they escaped a series they should have lost to a 55 win OKC because of a horrible game six choke job by the Thunder.

LeBron is like Karl Malone. He's not the Jordan-esque player he was three seasons ago, but I'll believe he's significantly diminished when I finally see it.

[Predicto]

It really is a matchup thing.   I didn't realize it at the time and was more afraid of the Spurs, but OKC was an extremely difficult matchup for the Warriors because of their length and athleticism.  It affects all of the passing lanes and means that when the Warriors run their screens and cuts, the shooters are not as wide open as they usually are.  It means that defensive rebounding is disrupted by long arms in the paint, which makes it hard to get out on the fast break.  

 

Other teams that gave the Warriors fits this year were Minnesota, Milwaukee, Detroit and Utah, all young teams with a ton of length and athleticism.  Cleveland doesn't have that.   Other than Lebron and Shumpert, they are not an athletic team, they are a skill team.  And the Warriors matchup really well with them.   

 

This doesn't mean that OKC is a perfect matchup against everyone.  They have trouble with teams that slow the pace down, run isos, and keep the game close to the end.   Chicago swept OKC this year.   Cleveland swept them.   Houston always gives them a hard time.   They lost to Brooklyn, Indiana and the Knicks, all teams that slow it down.   Meanwhile, the Warriors swept all of those teams pretty easily.  

The Cavs are a completely different team at home. A team that actually plays tough. I also don't expect much out of the Warriors role players on the road, other than Iggy. Draymond Green used up all his makes for the series last game. LeBron is also a beast in the playoffs and we're due for a couple of monster 40 point games from him. Kyrie Irving is due for a big game where he drops 30+, and JR Smith is also due for a game where he makes like seven threes.

Bottom line, no team with LeBron on it is just going to roll over like a dog at home. And the Warriors have also displayed some real shakiness on the road in the previous two rounds. I think Cleveland wins the next two.

 

 

You may be right, but here's a counterpoint:

 

http://www.nba.com/warriors/gameday/20160118/recap

 

 

I imagine the closing game at Oracle will be a 20 point game where a naked Predicto runs onto the court and hugs Steph Curry's Mom.

 

 

 

FTFY

[The Evil Genius]

I think what goes unsaid is that the Cavs would have been lucky to be a 4 seed this year in the West. I don't see them in front of GSW, SAS, OKC, or really even the LAC..who they are probably better than. But they would have been waxed by Portland if they drew them in the first round.

[Bozo the kKklown]

If you've been following the Cavs this season, you know about their Jekyl and Hyde home/away split. They are a much better team at home--an elite team. They're 40-8 at home while just 29-21 on the road.

They're not going to shoot like **** the whole series. This is a great shooting team, they had the 4th best offensive in the league this season. They were also tenth in defensive rating.

And also the Warriors have not played like the greatest team ever in the postseason. They beat up on the corpse of the Rockets, but they got pushed in every game by a Blazers team that had no business hanging around with them. And they escaped a series they should have lost to a 55 win OKC because of a horrible game six choke job by the Thunder.

LeBron is like Karl Malone. He's not the Jordan-esque player he was three seasons ago, but I'll believe he's significantly diminished when I finally see it.

to the bold, um they have this series. LOL

And one of the Cavs losses at home was by 40 points to this Golden State team.

The Warriors defense has been smothering this series, so maybe thats why the Cavs are shooting poorly from 3.

Edited June 6, 2016 by BenningRoadSkin

[The Evil Genius]

I think people are sleeping on how good the Blazers became the 2nd half of the seson. I think that's a 50 win team there next year...injuries willing.

They are basically GSW Jr right now.

Edited June 6, 2016 by The Evil Genius

[Predicto]

 

That's a fair point.

 

But he's not really offering any resistance at all.

 

Irving is pretty brutal on those switches too.

 

 

 

 

Irving is a bigger defensive problem than Love is.  Love gets caught in bad PnR situations, but at least he provides muscle down low and elite defensive rebounding.   Irving provides nothing on defense, and the Warriors are taking advantage of him even more than Love.

 

Irving is not the superstar that people make him out to be.